Cayla Mae M.

Carlos BSN 1-B

October 22, 2018

Depression
Expository essay

What is depression? Depression is feelings of severe despondency and

dejection. It is a feeling where you seem to see yourself so low that you think that you

would think negative always. Being depressed often feels like carrying a very heavy

burden, but you are not alone in this struggle. Millions of people suffer from some form

of depression every year, making it one of the most common mental disorders in the

world. Gaining a deeper understanding of depression can help begin the journey to

recovery. Taking some time to learn more about the causes and symptoms of

depression will assist you greatly when it comes time to consider methods of treatment.

If you thought that depression is just feeling sad, then you should reevaluate that fact

now. Everyone feels upset or unmotivated from time to time, but depression is much

more serious. It is a mood disorder characterized by prolonged feelings of sadness and

loss of interest in daily activities. If these symptoms persist for a period of at least two

weeks, it is considered a depressive episode. Data from the Substance Abuse and

Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that in 2014, an estimated

15.7 million adults in the United States reported having at least one major depressive

episode in the previous 12 months. That is 6.7% of all U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

SAMHSA records from 2014 also note that an estimated 2.8 million adolescents

reported having at least one major depressive episode in the previous 12 months. That

number is 11.4% of all U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17.

(https://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html, Dina Cagliostro, PhD). According to

the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), major depression is one of the most

common mental disorders in the United States. Not only is depression prevalent, but it

also creates the heaviest burden of disability among mental and behavior disorders.

According to a 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) report, depression accounted for

3.7% of all U.S. disability-adjusted life years and 8.3% of all U.S. years lived with

disability. There is no one cause for depression, as it depends on a unique combination

of an individual’s genetic makeup and environmental conditions. But there are many

factors to take into account like the brain’s physical structure or chemistry, history of

depression in family, history of other disorders (anxiety, post-traumatic stress

disorder),Stressful, traumatic events (abuse, financial issues, death of a loved

one),Hormone changes (menstrual cycles, pregnancy),Certain medications (sleeping

aids, blood pressure medication).

Lack of sleep, poor eating habits, and having not enough exercise. Sounds

familiar isn’t it? This is a normal routine of the life of a college student and this is a

recipe for depression. The stress that comes with academia — including financial

worries, pressure to get a good job after school, and failed relationships — is enough to

force some students to leave college or worse. Many factors of college life contribute to

risk factors of depression. Many students are unprepared for university life. Today’s

students face high debt. They also have fewer job prospects after graduation than

previous generations. These added concerns can lead to depressive moments in

college students. Depressed students are at a bigger risk of developing problems such

as substance abuse. Depressed college students are more likely to binge drink, smoke
marijuana, and participate in risky sexual behaviors to cope with emotional pain than

are their non-depressed peers. Depressed people often tend to search for love and

attention from others because they believe that it will help them ease the pain and make

them happy even just a little but they were proved otherwise. Often, a breakup will

precipitate a bout of depressive feelings. Risks of depression related to a breakup

include intrusive thoughts, difficulty controlling those thoughts, and trouble sleeping. As

many as 43 percent of students experience insomnia in the months following a breakup.

Students that are most likely to become distressed after a breakup experienced neglect

or abuse during childhood, had an insecure attachment style, felt more betrayed, and

were more unprepared for the breakup. (Michael Kerr, July 5, 2017). Also, depression

episodes can also result to harmful physical activities like cutting one’s wrist, attempting

suicide, etc. because they thought that they were better off dead and that they won’t feel

the pain any longer and just give up on trying. In the United States, suicide is the

second leading cause of death among people aged 15–34 years. Among young adults

aged 18–25 years, 8.3 percent have had serious thoughts of suicide. (Michael Kerr, July

5, 2017). Non-depressed people say that depression is not real and that depressed

people just wanted attention for themselves which is definitely wrong. People say, “Oh

this makes me so depressed,” or things like, “Oh no, don’t get depressed about this.” I

hate to break it to you, but depression is a very complex thing. You can be depressed,

but still smile to the world. Depression is not something to joke about just because you

think it is cute. You know what depression is? It does not want to do your favorite things,

and you just can’t explain why. It is staying in bed all day because you just don’t have

the energy to get up. Depression is when you just can’t help but feel sad, with no real
explanation behind it. It sucks, to put it simply. It isn’t fun to have, nor is it funny.

Depression is harmful and dangerous compared as to what you are thinking and in all

honesty, it is not a joke. Struggling with depression for a while may result to don’t feel

like doing anything even though they know for themselves what they needed to do.

Depression is real, and many people have to deal with this struggle. I may be all smiles

and happy when I am around people, but on the inside it is different. I personally just

don’t like it when people are constantly asking me what is wrong with me, only because

I really don’t have a real reason to be. Besides, telling a bunch of people that I struggle

with depression just doesn’t sound fun. However, depression is not something to be

ashamed of. So with this, I hope people think carefully next time they make an ill-

planned joke, because it might be hurtful to someone around them. Depression is an

everyday battle for some people, and it really causes a fuss in people’s lives. It is most

definitely not a joke.

Emotional abuse and depression is often associated to each other because most

of the time, they both occur at the same time or the afterwards of each other. It is nearly

impossible to stay upbeat and happy when your optimism and spirit are being eroded

away by an abusive partner. Emotional abuse and depression are closely linked but

many overlook the connection. Emotional abuse is hard to pick up on but it’s effects can

be devastating. Tell a decent, mentally healthy person that they have upset you and

they will try to understand why and try to avoid that behavior in the future. Tell an

emotional abuser that they have hurt you and they will twist it around. By the end of that

conversation it will somehow all be your fault. You’ll be accused of being too sensitive or

be asked, “Can’t you take a joke?” These subtle emotional blows can weaken even the
strongest person and leave them with self-doubt and an inability to make decisions as

they used to. Emotional abuse and depression often go hand in hand as emotional

abuse can be likened to ingesting a slow poison. It robs you of your self-confidence and

your views of the world and makes you doubt everything – how worthy you are as a

person, how accurate your judgments are and will lead to confusion and an underlying

sense of loss although you may not know exactly why.

(https://www.thoughtsonlifeandlove.com/emotional-abuse-and-depression/)

Depression in its nature shouldn’t be mocked at and be joked around. It is real and is a problem
around the world because depression is a natural occurrence in our brain. It isn’t something that
someone just came up with it to gather attention and be famous. It is real and everyone should realize
that instead of mocking them and making them a joke, they should help them, comfort them and make
them feel safe and protected and respected. The same applies to those people in college who feels too
much pressure while in school, where they should be learning but what really happens is the exact
opposite where students are forced to submit projects, deadlines over deadlines and make them very
unstable. Instead of learning, they are pressured; saddened by their grades that are almost entirely
based on the projects they need to pass not from what they learned from school which is totally
pointless. They are also emotionally abused to a point where they think of themselves too little and
work poorly because of depression which also leads to poor grades which leads to depression and
pressure. These are all connected to a behavior of people around the world and everyone should be
responsible enough to be considerate on how others feel. Respect people’s feelings. It might
not mean anything to you, but it could mean everything to them.